Paying credit card balances off in full

ktez

Hi - apologies if this question has been answered before.

I have came into a sum of money and hope to clear all my credit card debt (£13000 in total). Do I just pay the whole amount outstanding or is it worth ringing them to see if I can pay less than the amount owed? Can you barter any with them?

I have been paying the minimum amount for years now and feel they have well and truely made their money from me! It would also be nice to keep by a couple of hundred pounds aside to treat the kids instead of it all going to the credit cards although I am ecstatic about ridding myself of the misery of debt either way :T.

Any advice welcome....

Hannah_10

Have you been managing to make the minimum repayments to each of your CC companies? Or have there been times that it didn't get met, if so how recently?

pipsi_2

You could approach them with an offer, don't tell them that you've come into £XXX of money, just say that you would like to offer X amount as a full and final settlement (there are template letters around here somewhere with the correct wording to use) as you have access to some money but only for a limited amount of time. Try going in with an offer of less than you would like to pay in the assumption that they will probably come back to you asking for more, you can then negotiate a figure that you agree on. The general advice on here is to pay via a family member of friend to make it look like the money came from a third party, if they know you've come into some money they may demand you pay the full balance. If they think that the alternative to coming to an agreement would be that you would continue to make your token payments they may be more likely to accept a smaller offer.

ktez

Hannah_10 - Yes I have always made the minimum payment and been on time.

Pipsi - thanks for the advice. I will give it a go and see what they say.

Hannah_10

You're not paying token payments then, token payments are when you're paying them each £1 a month because you're really too brassic to go any higher. In this case where they've always got thier minimums they have little incentive to go for a reduced full and final offer.

That however is no reason not to try, the worst they can say is no after all and you're not in any worse situation than you were before. When making reduced F&F's the wording is essential so make sure you've got the right paper trail (posting here can be a way of checking) and keep negotiations in writing not over the phone. You might get lucky and they might take 85 or 90% as a F&F but that is really squeezing the boundaries though. That said, I'd make my first letter to them to say I was considering making a settlement and what would they consider- then whatever percentage it was I'd write back offerring that percentage doubled (eg. they say 8% off, so I say 16% off).

You don't have anything to lose in trying, just bear in mind you wont get the tiny settlements that really bad payers have been known to get. Stopping paying for 6 months to let them stew is a strategy of course, but then you're opening yourself up to hate mail and a wrecked credit rating so you may decide it's not worth it.

pipsi_2

Hannah_10 seems to have more knowledge than me on the subject, sounds like she's got some really good advice which is more in depth than what i offered.

amiehall

Considering that you haven't already destroyed your credit rating as you've been able to keep up the minimum payment, I'd really watch that offering a f&f settlement doesn't get you a default. It's important that you get them to agree in writing that no default will be placed on your file.

ktez

Mozette wrote: »

I'm sure I'm going to come across as harsh, but why not pay what you owe, seeing as you are able to?

I know exactly what you are saying however I have inherited the £14,000 and it will be the only time I will ever have this kind of money. I do intend to pay all my debts off which will be great, however if I could even claw back a few hundred pounds to treat the kids or something, I would. I just didn't know if it was possible to work with these companies however after the advice above, I plan to write to them and give it a go - if they don't budge, I will pay the full amounts...albeit begrudgingly!!

Hannah_10

You wont get a default if you keep paying the minimums while the letters go too and fro and get the paperwork checked before you part with your money (as pipsi says don't mention where it's coming from).